Fit Fare

It’s hardly a secret that American children, along with adults, are becoming heavier. According to a recent report in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, by 2010, nearly half the children in North America will be overweight or obese. These alarming statistics have increased the criticism and scrutiny of the foods eaten by children in school cafeterias.

People who haven’t been in a school cafeteria for many years, might be quite surprised if they visited one. I’m old enough to remember going to schools where snacks and beverages were not a big part of our diet. There were several vending machines at school, dispensing cups of watery cola, tepid hot chocolate, and a vile chicken broth. I rarely saw anyone buy anything from them. The basic meals prepared by the kitchen staff weren’t exciting, but they were well balanced. There was no school store selling cookies and candy. I generally brought my own lunch, and some classmates had to sneak off campus to buy meals at fast food restaurants. Back then, obesity rates for kids were lower than now and you rarely heard any discussions on the topic.

How things have changed. Schools today may offer a traditional cafeteria meal, as well as a la carte lines and vending machines filled with all manner of high fat snacks and carbonated drinks. And pressure is being placed on schools to get rid of this “junk” food altogether or to offer alternatives.

Reacting to this pressure some schools are beginning to offer salad bars or to replace items sold in vending machines with healthier foods. Rather than chips, soda or candy, machines are filled with fruit, jerky, tuna packs with crackers, nuts, water, juice and low-fat milk. In Rocky Mount, N.C., schools once offered huge cookies as an a la carte item. They were eliminated along with other high fat foods, such as fried chicken sandwiches and chicken nuggets. In their place, chicken Caesar salads and chef salads with fat-free dressings are offered. Whole grains are now used in bread, rolls and pastries. According to district nutritionist Patty Green. “Many of the changes the kids don’t notice. We went from 2 percent milk to skim milk, and no one complained.”

Other schools across the nation are responding to grass roots calls for changes in school meals. In Appleton, Wisconsin, schools began phasing out processed foods seven years ago, adding more grains, fresh fruits and vegetables to the school menus. Organic foods are offered as much as possible and portion sizes of high fat foods like fries and mashed potatoes have been downsized. Appleton’s effort won it a nod of approval in the film Super Size Me.

School districts can also opt for private food service companies to help transition students over to healthier foods. The companies revamp popular food items like hamburgers or pizza to be lower in fat and higher in fiber. They also create unusual cafeteria environments that attract students, such as mini-restaurants serving vegetarian fare. A lounge is designed to look like a living room, for students to relax and eat low-calorie comfort foods. “Coffee bars” serve decaffeinated and sugar free milk-based beverages. The goal is to attract students to come in and socialize in a fun place, which also happens to serve healthy food.

However, some schools are finding that innovative approaches work better to shape student views on how to eat and enjoy healthy food. One of the most interesting programs is Berkeley, California’s Edible Schoolyard Project, founded in 1994 by noted chef, Alice Waters. Using a one acre organic garden at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, students learn how to grow, harvest, cook and eat fruit and vegetables. Students spend two ten week sessions, working 90 minutes a week in the garden and the kitchen. One purpose of the project was to provide children a place to have fun. But, they also learn to enjoy eating healthy foods that they might have avoided before beginning the program. The project is so successful that other schools are copying it. The National Gardening Association runs a web site listing thousands of school gardens around the country.

The Edible Garden has inspired similar programs. The Hayward Nutritional Learning Community Project, in Hayward California has been effective in encouraging students to eat healthier foods by getting them involved with gardening and learning to cook fruit and vegetables. Nutrition is incorporated into math and science classes by making students grow vegetables and use them in lessons on weights, measures and grid work. This approach has been very successful and produced a high level of involvement in many students. One second-grade class demanded less cheese on their pizza and more vegetables, hanging posters at school asking “Don’t you want more fresh vegetables?”

But, if all else fails one can always turn to technology to make sure children are eating a wholesome meal. Some schools are finding success by using an electronic system called Mealpay, which lets parents pre-pay their children’s school meals. Students make their food selection and enter their personal code at the register, rather than pay by using money. The system keeps a record of what students purchase and parents can monitor what their children eat by going online, entering a secret code, and viewing what their child purchased. At some schools, parents can use this system to control what foods their children eat, by making certain foods impossible to purchase. If a child’s parent has made chips and candy off-limits, a beep will sound at the register and they will be unable to buy them. A side benefit of this type of program is that poor children who receive free or discounted lunches aren’t embarrassed when they buy their food. In traditional cafeterias children who use vouchers to pay for their meals often skip lunch entirely rather than be identified as poor.

Whichever method is chosen, the writing is on the wall for schools. They must improve the types of foods offered to their students and seek creative ways to combat rising levels of obesity in children.